Cabinet installation



Ml? 10, 1955 s'. F. DUGGAN ETAL. *I 2,708,147

` CABINET msrALLA'rIoN Piled Aug. 11 1951 y 2 Shfotvsheet A FRA/VWS F.DUG/V LDU/S L BURKE YD l'l; DAVIDSON .liu I @Ma ATTORNEY.

M0! 10, 1955 F. F. DUGGAN avm. 2,708,147

:308,141 CABINET INSTALLATioN Franci! F. Duggan, Louis L. Burke, andLloyd H. Davidson, -Connersville, Ind., assignors to Aveo ManufacturingCorporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of DelawareApplicationAngust 11, 1951, Serial No. 241,454 s claims. (ci. 3124-1211)The present invention relates generally to a cabinet installation andmore particularly concerns an improved construction for mounting kitchencabinets on a vertical wall. v

-vAlthongh'kitchen installations comprising a plurality ofindividloverhgadcabinets attached to the walls of A 25,708,147 YPatented May 10,1955

vertical interior wall. The hanger bar is provided with v a horizontalprojection .which is engaged by recesses lformed in'the rear walls ofthe cabinets being mounted. When thus engaged with the hanger bar, thecabinets are automatically aligned so that the rear plane faces of the.cabinets all lie in a common plane. The structural portions of thecabinet engaged with the hanger bar are provided with holes which can bealigned with holes pro- Furthermore, according to'standard buildingmethods, a,

structural support or stud is only provided within the wallperiodically, the studs usually being on 16" centers. Since theindividual cabinets vary in width and often must be installed on thewall in some particular relationship dictated by the surroundings, it isfrequently. impossible to secure the individual cabinet hangers directlyto studs with the result that a weak, unsatisfactory installationresults where the hangers are attached to the wall between the studs.The present invention avoids all of these difiiculties.

Another common mounting system comprehends the provision of an elongatedwooden member which is first securedto the wall, the cabinets thereafterbeing attached to the wooden support. Although this mounting arrangementavoids many of the diiculties of individual hangers, it has shortcomingsof its own. For one thing, the wooden member usually is relatively weakin a direction perpendicular to the wall and tends to follow the run-outof the wall with the result that, as in the case o( hdividual hangers,the cabinets, when attached to the wall. do not line up uniformly, theindividual cabinets often being cocked towards or away from one anotherin an irregular line. Furthermore, it is conventional to use wood screwsfor attaching the cabinets to the wooden support member, with the resultthat, when the cabinets are removed to facilitate painting of the wall,the screw holes in the wooden member become worn and the cabinets tendto be loose when reinstalled. Another serious defect of the mountingarrangement results from the fact that clearance must be provided at therear of the cabinets to accommodate the wooden support. As presentlyconstructed, the clearance space prevents complete utilization of thestorage volume of the cabinets. In addition, the clearance space must becovered in some fashion at the end walls of the row of cabinets to.

improve the appearance of the installation. Another serious drawback ofthe mounting arrangement is that no means is provided for automaticallyaligning the cabinets on the wooden support.

The present invention eliminates all of the foregoing difficulties.Briey stated, the present invention comprises a hanger bar which isattached horizontally to a vided in the hanger bar proper, -fastening'means being subsequently passed through the-aligned holes to' attachthe cabinets to the hanger bar.

Accordingly, it is'an important object of the present invention toprovide an improved cabinet installation in which a plurality. ofindividual cabinets are automatically aligned relative to one another bya common hanger bar despite the fact that the mounting wall to which thecabinets are attached departs from planarity.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide `a cabinetmounting structure ,which is very strong and which makes possible thefirm attachment of a plurality of cabinets to a wall, despite the factthat the structural rnembersaoftthewyvallv:are irregularly spaced orrelatively far apart. Still another object of the invention cabinetinstallation which makes possible full utilization of the Vstoragevolume within the cabinets.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it makes possible theremovable attachment of a plurality of cabinets to a wall so that thecabinets can be removed and reinstalled without damage whenever theoccasion arises, as when the wall must bel cleaned and painted. Anotheradvantage of the invention is that it makes possible the mounting of aplurality of cabinets immediately beneath a soit to preserve the maximumvolume of the room in which the cabinets are installed.

It is'also an object ofthe present invention to provide a mountingconstruction which will accommodate a plurality of cabinets of differentwidths without the necessity4 for drilling extra holes in a hanger. barto which the cabinets are attached. Afurther advantage of the inventionis that the cabinets can fbe attached to the hanger bar by concealedfasteners'inserted from the interior of the cabinets.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth in the appended claims;

the invention itself, however, together with additional objects andadvantages thereof, will best be understood from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which: v f

Figure l shows in perspective a lrear elevational view of a cabinet anda hanger bar to which cabinet can be secured;

Figure 2 shows in perspective, and to an enlarged scale, a portion ofthe upper rear wall of the cabinet in installed relationship with asection of the hanger bar;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of la plurality of cabinetsattached to a hanger bar secured to a vertical wall; and l Figure 4 is atop plan view of a corner of an outside cabinet taken on plane 4-4 ofFigure 3 showing to an;

enlarged scale a cover plate-secured to the side wall of a cabinet toconceal the recesses provided in the cabinet l plane rear wall 6 and atop wall 7. The rear wall is formed to delne a recess,generallydesgnated 8, which accommodates a projecting channel shapedportion 9 of a hanger bar, generally designated l0.

The'hanger bar may be formed from sheet metal into a flanged channelcross section, the flanges 11 being designed to lay against a wall 12 ofa room, as illustrated in Figure 3.

It is conventional in this country to construct an interior wall of adomestic dwelling by erecting a plurality of vertical studs,schematically indicated by phantom lines at 13 in Figure 3. These studsare usually erected on sixteen inch centers and the wall covering isattached thereto. The inherent variations in building materials andmethods precludes, for practical purposes, the construction of aperfectlyllat vertical wall with the result that it frequently departsfrom planarity. Despite these departures, the present invention makes itpossible to' align and attach a plurality of cabinets to the wallwithout difficulty. As illustrated in the preferred embodiment, thehanger bar is screwed, or otherwise suitably attached, throughl holes10a, to the studs 13 spanning the wall horizontally and bridging anydepressions and other run-outs in the wall.

After 4the hanger bar is secured to the wall, each of the cabinets isindividually raised and moved laterally until recess 8 vengagesprojection 9 of the bar. A plurality of spaced holes 14 is provided inhanger bar 10 and each cabinet is provided with two sets of verticallyaligned holes 15 which can be brought into alignment with comparablyspaced holes 14. After' thus being aligned, threaded fastening members,such as metal screws. 16, are passed upwardly from the interior of thecabinet through the cabinet and hanger bar. By tightening fasteners 16,the cabinet can be drawn securely against the hanger bar with thecabinet flush against the mounting wall and in perfect alignment withother cabinets attached'to the hanger bar. The headsof screws 16 areconcealed from view for practical purposes and cannot be seen dunnordinary use of the cabinets.

The details of the cabinet construction can best be understood fromFigure 2 which shows the rear wall 6 formed to define integral inwardlyprojecting channel 17 having an upper horizontal leg 18, defining recess8 and terminating at 19. A

The top wall 7 has a vertical wall portion 20 at the rear of the cabinetand has a horizontal rearwardly extending ange 21 contiguous with leg 18of channel 17. Wall portion 20, in conjunction with ange 2l, defines asecond recess, generally designated 22, which provides g clearance forthe upper ends of fasteners 16 after they have passed fully through thecabinet and hanger bar.

Manufacturers of kitchen cabinets often make various size cabinetsin'integral multiples of an inch. Accordingly, it is a relatively easymatter to space holes 15 horizontally by a distance which is also anintegral multiple of an inch. By spacingholes 14 in the hanger bar atone inch intervals, it is possible to install any width cabinet on thehanger bar without dn'lling special holes. Furthermore, the cabinets canbe installed in any position desired on the hanger bar within one inchor less of any arbitrarily chosen point on the mounting wall.

lt is to be observed that recesses 8 and 22 are relatively small and donot impair thesubstantially full utilization of the storage volumewithin the cabinet. These recesses, however, must be covered forappearance sake at the exposed side wall of the last cabinet of theseries installed on the mounting wall. For this purpose, a cover plate,generally designated 23, may be provided for attachment to side wall 4aof the last cabinet of the series. This cover plate, which is bestillustrated in Figure 4, comprises a plane vertical portion 24 with anin-tumed flange. 25. A metal clip 264i: spot welded or otherwisesecuredv to portion 24 and engages the interior face 4b of wall 4a.Cover plate 23 is force fitted onto wall-4a before the associatedcabinet is installed on the hanger bar. After installation of thecabinets, recesses 8 and 22 are ,no longer visible and an extremely neatappearance is created.

It is important to note with regard to the present invention that thehanger bar can be supplied in relatively great lengths so that it can becut as required to accommodatewthc proportions of the mounting wall.After being cut to length and mounted horizontally on the wall, it ismerely necessary to hang the cabinets on the hanger bar. The job caneasily be handled by one man who can first install the hanger bar andthen hang 'the cabinets,

4 inserting the fasteners 16 upwardly through the hanger bar from theinterior of the cabinets. Since the cabinets are automatically fullyaligned as soon as engaged with the hanger bar, it is obvious thatservices of a second man are not required in holding the cabinets duringthe time that the fasteners are inserted. This is obviously a greatbenefit.

As illustrated in Figure 2, screw fastener 16 is shown tlireadedlyengaged with flange 21 of the cabinet, the screw passing with clearancethrough holes 14 provided in the hanger bar. By making holes 14 slightlylarger in diameter than the screw fasteners, or by slotting them, asmall degree of adjustability is made available which facilitatesinstallation of the cabinets in perfect alignment, thereby compensatingfor slight inaccuracies in the cabinets that inevitably result frommanufacturing variations. Additional screws can be inserted throughholes 27 into wall 12 and the cabinets can be bolted to one anotherthrough holes 28 to complete the installation.

Since the cabinets are moved laterally into engagement with the hangerbar, the tops of the cabinets can be installed flush with the ceiling orsoit of a kitchen thus preserving the volume of the room and creating aneat and substantial appearance.

lt will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention makes possible a rugged, attractive installation of aplurality of kitchen cabinets. While the interior volume of the cabinetsis preserved, perfect alignment of the cabinets is attainable despitedepartures of themounting wall from planarity. It will furthermore beappreciated that the present invention makes possible a strong cabinetinstallation despite the fact that the structural supports of themounting wall are irregularly spaced and relatively far apart. v

Having described a preferred embodiment of our invention, we claim: c

1. A cabinet installation for attachment to a wall comprising a rigidhanger bar having a flanged channel cross section, the flanges beingsecured to the wall with the channel portion projecting outwardly fromthe wall and disposed in a substantially horizontal position, aplurality of cabinets each having a planar rear wall and planar sidewalls perpendicularly disposed to said rear wall, the upper portion ofsaid rear wall of each cabinet defining a channel shaped recess forengagement with the projecting channel portion of said hanger. bar, eachof said cabinets also defining a clearance recess parallel to anddisposed above the first recess, said rear walls of said cabinets beingcontiguous to the wall on which said cabinets 'are mounted, the rearedges of said side walls of said cabinets being co-planar with said rearwalls, and ooncealed threaded fastening means extending from theinterior of said cabinets upwardly through the channel portion of saidhanger bar into the clearance recesses whereby the fastening means cannot be readily observed during normal use of said cabinets.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 and, in addition,

l a cover plate for covering the recesses of the exposed side wall ofthe last cabinet of the plurality supported by said hanger bar, saidcover plate comprising an exterior wall portion and a clip secured tothe inner face thereof, said wall portion and said clip engaging theexposed side wall of the last cabinet in position to cover the ends ofsaid first and second named recesses.

3. A cabinet installation for attachment to a wall comprising a rigidhanger bar having a flanged channel cross section, the flanges beingsecured to the, wall with the channel portion projecting 4outwardly fromthe wall and r disposed in a substantially horizontal position, aplurality of cabinets each having a planar rear wall defining a channelshaped recess for engagement with the projecting chanprojectioncoextensive with its length, said bar being se cured to the wall in asubstantially horizontal position, a

plurality of cabinets each having a substantially planar rear walldefining a horizontal channel-shaped recess for receiving thechannel-shaped projection of said hanger bar,

adjacent cabinets having their side walls contiguous and substantiallyperpendicular to said hanger bar, and threaded fastening means extendingfrom the interiors of said cabinets through the channel-shapedprojection of said hanger bar into the channel-shaped recess.

5. A cabinet installation for attachment to a wall comprising a singlerigid hanger bar including an integral projection coextensive with itslength, said bar being secured to thevwall in a substantially horizontalposition with said projection extending outwardly from the wall, aplurality of cabinets each including a rear wall defining a horizontalrecess for receiving said projection of said hanger bar, the recessconforming closely to said projection, adjacent cabinets having theirside wall contiguous and substantially perpendicular to said hanger bar,and fastening means extending from the interiors of said cabinetsthrough said projection of said hanger bar into the horizontal recess.

.References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,629,430 Auen May 17, 1927 1,843,264 Bales Feb. 2, 1932 2,343,750 comanMar. 7, 1944 2,496,997 Hallberg Feb. 7, 1950 2,499,240 Aiken Feb. 2s,1950 2,521,134 stanitz sept. 5, 1 950 2,521,765 white sept. 12, 1950FOREIGN PATENTS 583,130 France Jan. '1, 1935v

